A Janitor's Story
by The Bard of Skheria
Summary: Now that Voldemort's back, Harry needs much more than just normal magic to aid him. As fortune would have it, a mysterious figure containing the power to tip the scales shows up at Hogwarts in the most unsuspecting position - the new caretaker.
1. Chapter One: The Seer Fails

_The Seer Fails_

            There is a world unknown to us, but known to many.  It was in this world that a very peculiar little thing – a baby girl – was born, to a family full of witches and wizards, nonetheless.  This family was known as the Nobilis, the oldest wizarding family in all of history, dating back to the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylonia.  They prided themselves in having the purest bloodline and the most exceptional magical abilities: each Nobilis possessed unique magical talents, all different and extremely rare amongst each member.  Now whenever a new member of the Nobilis family was born, a seer would be consulted; and with this baby girl, it was no different.  However, the soothsayer could not understand the visions that he saw that night and remained perplexed for years over the powers he foresaw in the girl.  In an effort to conceal his failure, he informed the parents that their child was indeed a squib, lacking in all magical powers whatsoever.  It was inevitable that this shocked them as there had not been a squib in all the generations of the Nobilis, not even a witch or wizard with less than immense magical power.  However, out of pity for the girl and the want to justify his own conscience, the seer left her with the one thing that he did understand from his visions: the name Airlia.  And so, Airlia was born, the youngest and last member of the Nobilis.  

            When Airlia had reached the age of one, she began to possess strange qualities.  Glowing white hair varying between gold and silver tones began growing from her head and her skin hardly held any pigment but a rosy pale.  At times, when she stayed completely still, people would pass right by without noticing her, resulting in hours of stress for her parents when they tried to find her.  In spite of all these peculiarities, the strangest yet were her eyes.  They were a pair of burning amethysts that possessed a haunting awareness, a wakefulness that would come to torment her for years.  Strangers found her a frightening child and began to avoid the Nobilis as they found that all their deepest secrets were revealed to her.  Eventually, even Airlia's own parents felt exposed and uncomfortable around her and at the age of four, they decided to give her away.  After months of searching for the perfect family, they found a childless Muggle family, on whom they cast a spell, making them believe that Airlia was indeed their daughter and had been all along.  

            Nevertheless, Airlia grew up to be a quiet and unassuming child, having very few people who dared to talk to her and even fewer who would befriend her.  This did not seem to bother her – she accepted it and took to observing people and their experiences.  Her Muggle parents, Adrian and Beverly Mills, loved her unconditionally and brought her up to be a decent, moral person, regardless of the enigmatic traits she bore.  Upon turning seventeen, Airlia decided to leave home and travel to Austria in search of the arts and something beyond physical attributes.  What she came upon was the world of Beethoven, Goya, and scientific fascination.  Years passed by and her hours were spent in conversation and debate with the greatest thinkers of the time, allowing her to absorb and learn the secrets of the most brilliant minds.  However, she began to find life strange when she did not age, and even stranger yet when generations passed by her and she was eluded by death.  It seemed that time had stood still for her at the age of twenty-four and resolved to remain in that youthful stage for all of eternity.  Thus, she lived and watched as both Muggle and Magical worlds evolved, until one day, the period between mirth and strife ended, and it became evident to her that the time of peace and restfulness for both worlds had come to an end.  

            The Kings Cross Station seemed to have transformed into a beehive overnight.  There was a low sort of hum in the air, one that only materializes in the busiest of situations.  And today was the busiest of situations.  Children had been scurrying through Platform Nine and Three Quarters since morning, and it seemed to Harry that they were always the last ones there.  He and Ron had just barely been able to stuff down a couple of marmalade toasts before they were hauled off to Kings Cross Station where Hermione was waiting impatiently for them.  "Really," she huffed, "If you two ever got anywhere on time, we would have to cancel the school year because everyone would have to recover from shock."

            Harry grinned widely and said, "It's good to see you too, 'Mione."

            "Say, Harry," Ron mumbled, "You wouldn't happen to have brought any of that toast with you, would you?  I'm starving!"

            Just then, Ginny squeezed up between them, saying, "Here, Mom packed these for us."

            Looking in the bags, Ron made a face and groaned.  "Not ham sandwiches again."

            "I guess you're not _that_ hungry, then," Hermione commented.

            By then, Harry had already tuned out his two bickering friends, and by doing so, he noticed the slightest shadow moving along the wall.  He squinted, craning his neck forward so he could see clearer.  It was indeed a person, but he could barely make out the figure.  The person seemed to be wearing a long black cloak with a hood drawn low over their head as if to hide something.  "Hey guys," Harry said, interrupting his friends, "Who's that?"

            They all looked to where Harry was discreetly pointing and strained their eyes to focus on the figure.  As the person got closer, Hermione pointed out, "It seems he's wearing sunglasses, or shades of some sort, though they're very peculiar – they don't give off any reflection whatsoever."

            "I don't know," the redhead wizard whispered, "He kind of gives me the creeps.  Look at how pale he is."  They all peered and sure enough, the patch of chin that peeked from beneath the hood was as white as cotton.  

            "What're you all standing there gaping at?  Have the Gryffindors all gone cross-eyed?"

            The group turned around to see a sneering, tall blonde scowling at them.  Draco Malfoy.  "None of your business, Malfoy.  Why don't you go find your cronies?  I'm sure they miss you already," Harry growled through his teeth.  

            "Jumpy, are we?" Draco retorted, "Well, well, what have we here?"  He stared and examined the figure that was approaching and smirked.  "I see they've finally hired a capable person to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  I don't know why they hadn't thought of hiring a vampire before.  Fancy I'll go introduce myself, _Potter_."  The boy lurched his face menacingly at Harry before heading to the supposed vampire.

            "You really think he's a vampire?" Ron asked, his eyes glued to the person in the black cloak.  

They all watched closely and listened as Draco approached the person, holding out his hand.  "Draco Malfoy," he stated with confidence, "I see they've finally hired someone competent for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.  I've always been a supporter and enthusiast for vampires myself."

The person stopped for a moment and looked at Draco, contemplating the boy's manner.  With a curious tilt of the head, the figure replied, "I am sorry to inform you that I am neither your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, nor am I a vampire.  Although, I understand why you would believe them to be excellent teachers as they are most perceptive and patient."  With that, the individual walked off, climbing onto the car at the end of the train.  

            "That he sounds like a _she_," the younger Weasley whispered, following the mysterious person with her eyes.

            "Yeah, but no woman is _that_ tall," Ron observed.  They all peered into the last car.  Indeed, the person was very tall, possibly reaching a height of six feet.  

            "Maybe she's an elf," Hermione whispered, "Elves are known for their height and are generally extremely pale."

            "But what would an elf be doing at Hogwarts?" Harry asked, perplexed as anyone else.  

            The Great Hall was radiating with thousands of floating candles reflecting off the golden cups and plates.  Everything looked perfectly spectacular for the start-of-term feast, but unfortunately, barely anyone noticed because all the students were too busy whispering and stealing peeks at the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  The Sorting was commencing, but even the first years could not help but place their attention toward the new faculty member.  He was a tall, slender man with short, tar-black hair and piercing blue eyes that sent chills down the spine if one was unfortunate enough to exchange glances with him.  This teacher was strikingly handsome with the ravishing looks of a dark, mysterious duke or count, but possessed a rather unnerving calm about him.  He sat beside Professor Snape, who was looking more the bit ugly with each passing moment.  There was a sigh of excitement amongst the students when the Sorting finally finished as they were all looking forward to Dumbledore's introduction of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  The old Headmaster stood up, and almost instantly, all the anticipation and excitement died away to tranquil warmth.  He spread his arms as if to embrace the room, and said in a booming voice, "I have only a few words for you: soggy, whittle, and circumlocution."  And with that, the feast began. 

 A groan nearly rose from the disappointed crowd; however, they were far too famished to bother with satisfying their curiosities.  At the Gryffindor table, the Infamous Trio was busy discussing their summers and not before long, every student was stuffed and full.  When it was clear that the last of the plates had been licked and polished, Headmaster Dumbledore rose to his feet and cleared his throat of chicken pot pie bits.  "I see you have all thoroughly devoured your meals," he began with a beaming smile, "And now I must ask for your attention to a few more notices.  As before, I would like to remind you that the forest is out-of-bounds to the students, as is the village of Hogsmeade for those below third year.  At this moment, I would like to take the time to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Vladimir Cruoris.  Professor Cruoris joins us from Romania, and I believe you will find him a most interesting teacher."

"Now," he continued with a twinkle in his eye, "There is another new person on our staff this year.  Airlia Mills will be assisting Mr. Filch this year as the new caretaker.  I request that you all show Miss Mills the same consideration that you show Mr. Filch."  He directed the students' gazes toward the back where a tall hooded figure stood with pitch-black sunglasses over her eyes.  

"It's the person from the train station!" Ron whispered rather loudly, causing her to glance toward the Gryffindor table.

"I guess she's a woman after all," Hermione concluded, looking carefully at the new caretaker, "Though I must say, she scares me more than Filch could ever hope to."   


	2. Chapter Two: Two Sides to Every Ministry

_Two Sides to Every Ministry_

Shadows played like ghosts against a flickering flame as a boy waited for just the right moment to creep into the Restricted Section of the library.  He held his breath as Madame Pince swept past the cupboard that he hid behind, and after a minute, he carefully crawled under the rope that set off the Restricted Section from the rest of the library.  As he crept past the shelves of books, he could hear some of the more violent volumes rattle from behind their chains.  Snickering quietly to himself, he stood up and peered at the books, scanning for one that he would take.  A particularly vicious one rattled from behind the rusty chains, growling and snapping at its neighboring books.  Grinning in a devilish manner, the boy pulled out his wand and muttered, "_Petrificus totalus", causing the book to go rigid and cease moving altogether.  After tucking his wand away, he reached forward and grasped the book, then let out a groan as his hand came in contact with a layer of slime.  Irritably wiping his hand on his pants, he covered his palms with his cloak and took the book off the shelf, meanwhile crouching back down and creeping along the shelves, hugging the slimy old book to his chest.  Suddenly, as he was about to slip under the rope, he heard a creak from the hinges of the library door.  He looked up and froze, not daring to breath for fear of being found.  Quickly tucking the book into his robes, he scurried back to the shelves and slowly opened the cabinet beneath and crawled in, sliding the door shut behind him.  His fingers dug into the fleshy cover of the book as he struggled to breathe as quietly as possible.  He pressed against the back of the cabinet and stopped breathing altogether when he heard footsteps approaching.  The footsteps stopped directly in front of the cabinet, and it was not long before the door slowly slid open and a lantern shined directly in his eyes.  Squinting at the glaring beam, the boy clutched the book in dread of having been found.  The person holding the lantern backed up and uttered a quiet, "Come out."  And he did exactly that.  Upon coming out of the cabinet, he saw that the person was Finch's new assistant.  "What are you doing up at this hour?" she asked quietly, putting the lantern down on the table.  _

The boy stared at her, remaining stubbornly silent.  An inaudible sigh of irritation came from the woman and after a moment, she asked, "What house are you in?"

            Realizing that he had nothing to fear, the boy answered defiantly with a cocky frown on his face, "I don't have to answer anything, you're just a janitor, a _squib.  You can't do anything to me." _

            The tall woman bent down, leant very close to the boy's face, and took off her sunglasses.  What the boy saw made him bite his tongue and stifle a scream.  "I suggest that you tell me what you were up to lest you want to get yourself in further trouble."

            "I – I – it was just a dare!" the boy stuttered out, dropping the book on the floor.  

            After looking carefully into the boy's eyes, Airlia stood up and put her sunglasses back on, saying in the process, "Well then, I suggest you run back to your dormitory and inform your friends that a game of truth or dare should be left for the weekends."

            "You – you're not going to punish me?" he stammered, shocked beyond his wits.

            She smirked and replied, "I have all year to punish you; I would rather not ruin the fun so quickly."

            Seeing that he would not be reprimanded for his actions, the boy uttered while trying to hide the sly smile that played on his lips, "Would you like me to unbind the book from its freezing spell?"

            The woman cocked her head and peered at him, then after a moment of consideration, replied yes.   

            With that, the boy uttered the counter-curse and scurried off, eager to go back and tell his friends of the ordeal.  

            The tall hooded figure watched the boy scamper off and smiled quietly to herself, thinking that perhaps the job would become amusing after all.  She turned to pick up the book from the floor and leapt back as it lunged for her, missing snapping her hand off by an inch.  The book's covers looked like the jaws of a crocodile and from its spine sprung a pair of clawed scaled feet that scurried towards Airlia.  Its front cover was coated with slime, partially covering the title that read, _Marshy Bog Monsters From Within The Lagoon.  The book lunged at Airlia and sunk its teeth into her lower arm, growling and snorting as she struggled to pry its jaws open.  Upon forcing its mouth apart momentarily, she flung it across the room, only to provoke its ferocity further and send it charging towards her.  Deftly leaping over the rope that set off the Restricted Section, she ran out of the library with the reptilian volume bounding after her.  As she reached the stairs, it snapped its hideous teeth onto her leg and dug its teeth into her calf.  Groaning, she pried its jaws open and flung it away from her, limping down the stairs as hastily as she could.  As she descended to the first floor, the retched bane dived for her head, and instead, caught her cloak and tore it off, snarling as it shredded the material to pieces.  _

            The illustrious Professor Snape was prowling in the shadows on his way up to Dumbledore's office when he saw a tall, hobbling figure with a shock of long golden white hair dashing down the stairs with a sort of crocodile dog chasing after them.  For a moment, Snape sneered as he thought it was Lucius Malfoy, until the reptilian thing jumped and bit into the person's Achilles' heel, at which a very feminine cry came from the figure clad in black.  She tumbled down the stairs as her leg gave out on her, allowing the book to tear at the flesh on her leg.  Quickly drawing his wand, Snape yelled  "_Petrificus totalus", directing the spell toward the book.  The thing's jaw went slack as it let go of Airlia's leg, stood rigidly immobilized, and then not being able to retain its balance, fell flat on its back with a squelch.  Breathing hoarsely, the new caretaker attempted to stand, and then fell to her knees as she realized that all the tendons in her heel had been shredded.  Snape swiftly caught her by the arm, only to have a handful of blood seep onto his palm.  "Come," he said urgently while supporting her weight, "We have to get you to the hospital wing."  After a moment, he stopped in his tracks, nearly causing Airlia to topple over.  Cursing under his breath, he muttered, "Madame Pomfrey hasn't arrived yet, the woman's still in Scotland."  Half dragging the caretaker down the steps, he said in an irritable tone, "You will have to learn to refrain from breaking into mischief, Miss Mills, _especially_ on the first day of the term.  You are here to uphold the school's maintenance, not cause havoc."  _

However, Airlia heard none of this as she was glancing back worriedly at the place where her sunglasses lay crushed on the ground.  Everything had become immensely brighter, more so than on a sunlit winter day.  With every noise and movement, she saw the sound and energy waves that followed, trailing behind the source like a stream of silvery light.  Closing her eyes, she stumbled dizzily down the stairs beside the Potions Master while attempting to concentrate on merely breathing.  The pain from her wounds increased with each jolting step as they slowly descended to the dungeons, leaving a bloody trail behind them.  Collapsing on the closest chair, Airlia rolled her eyes sluggishly around as everything around her began to slip out of focus.  All around her became a white blaze as she lay in the chair feeling the blood drain rapidly from her body onto the floor.  Snape hurried to gather rags and potions and came back to her side, ripping off the sleeve to her robe.  He stopped for a moment, stunned at the glowing paleness of her skin.  Swabbing her injuries with wound-cleaning potion, he poured a Tissue Repairment onto her heel, holding her jerking leg down as the flesh sizzled from the potion.  Within moments after he had bandaged her wounds, she sat up straighter and looked around, stunned at the events that had passed.  "I am starting to reconsider my competence for this job," she croaked out finally, her throat dry and hoarse from panic.  

            "That's a polite way to put it," Snape drawled out snidely, "Most squibs have at least _some sense."_

            "How does everyone know that I am a squib?" she questioned lethargically, rubbing her eyes wearily.

            Snape peered at her with great suspicion and said in a low voice, "Only squibs can obtain the position of caretaker, Miss Mills.  Being one, I am surprised you didn't know this already.  It is _very_ common knowledge."

            She nodded quietly and blinked as her eyes came back into focus.  Suddenly, she flicked her eyes upward as she saw a bright stream of movement behind Snape, darting from behind the shelves to the cabinets.  "Professor…" Airlia whispered in a low voice.

            "What is it?" the Potions Master snapped irritably.  

            Leaning towards him, she dropped her voice even lower and uttered, "There's a person next to the cabinet.  I think they may have an invisible cloak on."

            Turning around very slowly, Snape leapt forward and caught the person by their invisible arm and ripped off what seemed to be a cloak.  However, the person remained invisible to the naked eye.  "A Disillusionment Charm," Snape drawled out as he narrowed his eyes.  Pulling out his wand, he rapped the person hard over the head, lifting the charm.  The person who appeared made Snape's eyes widen in surprise and alarm.  "A _Weasley_…" he hissed, throwing the man against the wall.  

            From behind a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, the redhead shifted his eyes from Airlia to Snape nervously, and in a rash moment of defiance, turned his nose up and stammered out, "I – I'm not a Weasley, I'm a – I'm just _Percy, Percy of the Ministry of Magic, thank you very much."_


End file.
